All she could see

Research statement Research background Kessler notes that ‘we think sometimes we’re only drawn to the good, but we’re actually drawn to the authentic. We like people who are real more than those who hide their true selves under layers of artificial niceties’ (2000: Ch. 2). This story is part of continuous research that extends this discourse by exploring the underrepresentation of anger and guilt, emotional components identified by Kübler-Ross’s Seven Stages of Grief model (1969), in relation to successful publications of short stories that identify grief as a theme. Research contribution This story is informed by a statistical analysis of a series of recent successful short story submissions written in relation to grief. Using this, together with a qualitative approach to analyse fictional narratives (Spencer 2013), affirms a connection between the incidence of Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief and a collection of short-stories published with this theme in mind. Research significance This story contributes to the current discourses around how we, as a Western culture, express grief. The underrepresentation of anger and guilt in this regard, speaks to the concept of ‘disenfranchised grief’ as expressed by Hall, who recognises that ‘societies have sets of norms – in effect, grieving rules’ (2011) – and indicates the research potential for a wider view of grief in short story narratives. This story has been accepted for publication in a high quality research journal.